The Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Eze Onyekepere, said the volume of flared gas in the country could fuel about 7000 mega watts of efficient thermal electricity plant.

Onyekepere, who spoke in Abuja at a press briefing on issues relating to the implementing of the Nigerian Gas Master Plan (NGMP), said that Nigeria is rich in energy resources, yet poor in power supply.

He said in 2014, Nigeria lost about $1 billion (about N225billion), as oil companies operating in the country flared a large proportion of the gas produced from January to September of that year..

“Nigeria flares about 1.2 billion cubic feet (bcf/d) of gas per day, which could fuel about 7000megawatts of efficient thermal electricity power, over 1,400 agro-processing facilities, 350 textile plants, 70 fertilizer plants with opportunities for creating over one million jobs,” he said.

Onyekepere said going by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), data, “about 295 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas was flared in the nine-month period.”

He said the failure of the 7th National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has robbed the nation of huge sums of revenue, stating that the country seems to lack a comprehensive implementable energy policy.

CSJ said President Muhammadu Buhari should revisit the PIB and represent it to the National Assembly for quick action.

The body urged that the PIB be split into four parts because of the bulky nature of the bill, with the part dealing with gas isolated and immediately passed into law.

Onyekepere also said Nigerians should be encourage to participate in funding of the gas master plan which is estimated to consume about $25 billion.

While noting that the country’s inability to end gas flaring in the past was due to lack of political will, the CSJ Lead Director said the government, with the industry stakeholders should fix a definite time frame to end fassociated gas laring and fully implement the gas re-injection Act, with the new rules carrying stiff sanctions for defaulters.